Brunel rules on Rio

Brunel flexed its media muscle this summer, when athletes and academics appeared across Olympics news coverage.

From psychology to sports management, our academics led discussions about the greatest sporting show on Earth. Meanwhile, several Team GB contenders trained or studied at Brunel.

Sports psychologist Dr Misia Gervis scored two major TV appearances in the space of a week, giving audiences a glimpse inside athlete’s minds. Journalist and former Olympics table tennis champion Matt Syed interviewed Misia for the BBC’s Countdown to Rio.

Days later, about 700,000 early risers saw Misia again on itv’s Good Morning Britain. After British rowers, Kate Grainger and Vicky Thornley scooped silver, Misia shed light on how athletes can pull together despite a frosty relationship.

Another Brunel sports psychologist, Dr Costas Karageorghis helped BBC Radio 6 music create a motivational playlist for its Olympics-inspired Running Challenge. Costas has studied music's effect on exercise for 20 years and because of its power to make exercise feel less effort, he likens it to a legal drug. He also popped up in the guardian and PBS news hour among other places.

Gender equality in the games made a talking point on The Conversation, with a discussion by sports Sociologist Dr Laura Hills. As the International Olympics Committee aims for an equal number of men and women athletes, Laura says they’ll need to sprint to catch up.

Independent.co.uk featured research by sports management and development expert Dr Vassil Girginov who found British could have done lots more to benefit from the London 2012.

Get West London told how a hamstring injury stopped Usain Bolt using Brunel’s sports facilities as a last Pre-Rio training stop as planned. The world's fastest man has trained on Brunel’s indoor athletics track for the past five years. But as an impressive bunch of Brunel trained athletes and former students line up to compete, there’s several shots still at reflective glory.